NMTC By the Numbers

The New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) is a cost-effective way to create jobs and drive investment in communities with high rates of poverty and unemployment. Enacted in 2000, the program uses federal tax credits equaling 39 percent of the investment allocated over a seven-year period. These investments are made to spur community and economic revitalization.

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$9.5 billion: Capital that NMTCs generated in 2010 for projects and businesses in low-income communities.

$4.7 billion: The amount of NMTC investments made in qualified businesses in 2010.

$1.17billion: the estimated cost of NMTC investments in 2010 ( in terms of revenue loss to the federal government).

50: Number of states, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, where community and economic-development initiatives have attracted private capital using NMTCs.

72: The percentage of NMTC investments located in designated areas of higher economic distress.

60: The percentage of NMTC activity in communities with unemployment rates at least 1.5 times higher than the national average

70,000: Estimated number of jobs created or retained through NMTC investments in 2010.

38,000: The total number of construction jobs created through NMTC financing in 2010. (Included in 70,000 total jobs)

$17,000: Federal investment per job created under NMTC program versus standard cost of $92,000.

15 million: Square feet of manufacturing, retail, and community facility space developed in 2010 with the support of NMTCs.

$5.7 billion: The capital invested in NMTC in 2011, the most ever and 67% higher than in 2009.

$226 billion: Amount of demand for NMTC allocation from over 1,800 potential investors since 2003.

All this adds up to:

Billions of investment at a modest cost to the government; creation of thousands of construction and permanent jobs; financing for credit-starved small and medium-sized businesses; and revitalization for the nation’s most distressed communities.